Oscae gassett



(No Model.)

0. GASSETT.

SAFE.

No. 326,424. Patented Sept. 15, 1885.

'VUNITED STATES: PATENT QFFICEO OSCAR GASSETT, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SAFE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 326,424, datedSeptember 15, 1885.

i Application filed January 8,1885. (N model.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OSCAR Gnssnrr, of Boston, county of Suffolk, andState of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Safes, of whichthe following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings,is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing likeparts.

This invention, relating to safes and vaults, has for its object toincrease the difficulty of, if not absolutely prevent, burglars orunauthorized persons from picking or opening the usual permutation-locksthereon.

An experienced person having very acute sense of hearing or of touch, orboth, is often enabled to effect entrance into a safe or vault, for withsuch senses highly developed the exact position of the parts of the lockmechanism may be accurately ascertained or defined. In everypermutation-lock there are a certain number of combinations, and if timepermit the opening of the lock, everything being in 1 perfect condition,is but a mathematical prob- 1cm. I have ascertained by experiment thatthe sense of hearing and of touch never so acute are rendered entirelyunavailable provided a noise, hammering, or vibration is kept up in thesafe or vault while the knob-spindle of the lock is being tampered with;and, to effect the greatest amount of vibration or trembling movement tothe knob-spindle, I prefer that the blows of a hammer within the safe bemade effective against the said spindle,

and by causing the spindle and lock to vibrate at such time the tumblersof the lock are made to .vibrate ortremble sufficiently to cause anytumbler broughtinto supposed correct posit-ion for trial with othertumblers to be jarred out ically stopped after the passage of anypredetermined number of hours after closing the safe or vault door.

My invention consists, essentially, in the combination, with a safe orvault and its door, having alock, of a hammer or striking mechanism, andwith means to actuate the said hammer or striking mechanism, whereby aan is produced at that part of the door occupied by the lock and to thelock itself, and preferably the blows of the hammer or strikingmechanism are made effectual at the inner end of the knob-spindle, atthe back of the lock, or at the inner side of the door. The hammershownin thisinstanceofmyinventionis carried by an armature of anelectro-magnet located within the safe or vault, together with abattery, the magnet being in a circuit so arranged as to be partiallycontrolled by shutting the door of the safe or vault, the circuit beingpreferably completely closed only while the knob-spindle is being turnedafter looking the safe.

Figure 1 is a cross-section of a part of a safe or vault with its doorclosed, the door being supposed to have upon it a permutation-lock ofusual construction, the hammer and means for operating it and vibratingor jarring the usual knob-spindlebeing shown in plan view. Fig. 2 isadetail showing the electrical conmotions and circuit-controlling devicein plan view; Fig. 3, a section of the lock-spindle detached, it havingattached to its inner end a circuitcontrolling device or clamp; Fig.

4, a detail of the said circuit-controlling device and the plan ofconnecting it with the spindle frictionally, and Figs. 5 and 6 detailsshowing the detent of the time-motor and circuit-controlling devicegoverned by the said motor in front and rear elevation, re-

spectively.

In the drawings, A represents the body of the safe or Vault; A, itsdoor, hinged at A in usual manner; and B is the knob-spindle of thelock, it passing through and being shaped ,and adapted to operate thetumblers of any usual or suitable permutation-lock, the latter not beingherein shown in detail; for,to obtain a correct idea of my invention, itis necessary only to show the knob-spindle, and it will be understoodthat the particular construction of the lock and of the tumblers isimmaterial so long as the lock is of that class in which LII severaltumblers must be brought into certain exact position before the bolt ofthe lock can be reciprocated. In all such looks as known to me the innerend of the knob-spindle may be seen at the back of the lock or at theinner side of the door, the inner end of the knobspindle, in mostinstances, being covered by a plate attached to the back of the look byscrews or bolts.

In accordance with my invention, the plate referred to will be removed,or a hole will be cut through it opposite, and so as to expose the innerend of the knob spindle, so that it may receive against it blows of ahammer or vibrator.

As herein shown,the spindle is made in two pieces,its inner end beingmade or shaped like a cap-screw, B, having a shoulder, 20, and a head,30, the screw forming the inner end of the knob-spindle or a rigidmetallic part of. it,

and when in place, as in the drawings, serving to hold a slottedmetallic arm, b. (Shown best in Figs.3 and 4.) The arm b is'moved withthe knob-spindle frictionally as the latter isrotated, the said armmoving with the knobspindle untilitmeets one or the other of thecircuit-closing points b b, constituting one terminal of an electriccircuit, of which the arm b is the other terminal, so that when the saidarm meets the saidpoints it closes the said circuit, and the arm remainsin contact with the said circuit-closing point or stop inthe furthermovement of the spindle, which then turns frictionally within it. Theelectric circuit controlled by the said arm and'points,

which constitute acircuit-closer therefor, in-

cludes an electro-magnet, M, of usual con struction, located in the safeor vault on a suitable support. The screw d extended through bothbranches of the arm, forms an adjusting device, by which the arm b maybemade to embrace the knobspindle or itsscrew terminal more or lessclosely. i v

The armature M of the magnet M,is provided at its free end with a hammer, M which as the armature is attracted is thrown toward theknob-spindleB; but herein, instead of the hammer striking directlyagainst the spindle 1 B, I have interposed between the said spindle andhammer a rod, (1, which is placed in'suitable bearings, d d, and'issurrounded by a E a forty-eight hours. 5 with a series of holes, gshownassix in number-so that the disk will occupy eight hours in turningthrough the space between two, of the consecutiveholes, which areadapted to receive a pin or stud, 9 which projects from 1 both sides ofthe said disk, the part projecting coiled spring, d, which latternormallyacts to keep the said rod in contact with the end of thespindle, the rod d forming practicallyastiif metallic continuation orprolongation of the inner end of the spindle, so that the blows of thehammer against the rod are as effectual in vibrating the spindle as werethe hammer to strike directly against the inner end of the spindle, theemployment of the rod; being desirable, chiefly, to reduce the cost ofthe con struction of my apparatus. J U

The armature is acted upon at its back by a contact-spring, 0, held byan insulated post, 6, -in the circuit of the magnet, as is usual inelectrically-operated vibrators for bells.

The arm b is provided at its rear side with two pins, b, (see Fig. 3,)between which is placed the free end of a spring, b (see Fig. 2,)attached at its upper end to the door by a screw, 0, the said spring, byits action against the pins b, serving to remove the arm after thespindle is disengaged by the operator to an intermediate positionbetween the points b and b the movement of the arm b by the springacting to break the circuit and leave the armature at rest.

The magnet might be operated to vibrate the hammer continuously; butsuch embodiment of my invention would result in useless waste ofbattery-power. All'that is necessary is that the hammer operate tovibrateor jar the spindle only when the lock is being tampered with outof time or by an unauthorized person, and so I haveprovided theknob-spindlewith the arm b, in order that the electric circuit, to sheetthe operation of the magnet and its hammer,may be closed by the said armonly when the spindle is being operated or turned to bring a tumblerinto place, and the circuit to operate the armature and hammer will bemade whichever way the spindle may be turned.

The apparatus herein described needsto protect the safeor vault lock inpractice for not over forty hours continuously, as that is about themaximum time that a bank-vault is ever closed legitimately-ass overSundays or holidays-so in the circuit of the magnet I in practice employa time mechanism to con-- trol the circuit, and thereby prevent theopera;- tion of the magnet and hammer or vibrator after a certain lengthof time.

The circuit-wire 2, leading from one pole of the battery G,is connectedwith the magnet M,

r from which the circuit is continued by wire-3 to the armature M, theback contact-spring, e, 1 of which is connected by wire 4 to one member,

f, of a circuit-closer, the other member, f, of

f which is connected by wire 5 with the two con- 1 tact-points b b,whilethe other pole of the said battery is connected by wire 6 with a spring,7, which makes contact with the knob-spindle Y and arm b when the dooris closed. The said circuit-closer f f is controlled by a clock-work ormotor adapted to run fifty hours or more, actuating a disk, 9, arranged,as shown in this instance, to make one complete rotation in The saiddisk is provided at the rear side,as shown in Fig. 6, being adapt- 1 edat. one point in the rotation of the disk to engage the member f of thecircuit-closer and separate it from the member f, thus opening thecircuit of the battery B and magnet M,and

causing thehammer M to cease operating, even when contact is madebetween the arm b and points b and b so that the safe may be easilyopened by authorized persons at the IZO proper hour; or in case anaccident should happen to the lock, requiring the services of an expertto open it, he will not be embarrassed by the operation of the hammer.The part of the pin 9 projecting at the other side of the diskconstitutes a stop for arresting its move- 9 thereon, but not sufficientto overcome the said pressure, so that when the motor is arrested thedetent comes to rest with the arm i resting against the stop 4 and whenthe detent is momentarily disengaged from the stop the spring i willthrow it above the stop, so that it will not engage the stop ifimmediately thrown back by the spring '5 A second pin, similar to theone g,will be provided, which before closing the safe at night will beplaced in one of the holes 9 according to the length of time that thesafe is to remain locked and the hammer M in operation. For instance, ifit is to remain looked for sixteen hours, the usual interval from theclose of one business day to the beginning of the next, the pin will beplaced in the second hole from the pin engaged by the detent, and thenwhen the stop is released by the disengagement of the detent upon theclosing of the safedoor, as hereinafter described, the motor will runfor sixteen hours and then be arrested by the second pin; but if thesafe is to be closed over a whole day and night, as at the end of aweek, the second pin will be placed in the fifth hole and forty hourswill elapse before the circuit is again broken.

The circuit-closing springsf f will preferably be connected with thesafe-door rather than with the frame-work of the motor 9, so

that in the event of the sad motor becoming shattered or broken by theoperation of burglars the circuit will still remain closed and thehammerc in operative condition.

The detent i is disengaged from the stop to release the motor by ashoulder. p, of a slidepiece or tripping-rod, 19, extending through oralong the door of the safe, and normally when the door is openprojecting from the hinged end of the door, so that when the door isclosed the said slide-piece will have a longitudinal movement, forcingthe shoulder p against the detent i or a projection, i", thereon, andthereby disengaging the detent from the stop 9 when the spring t'*immediately throws thedetent upward, so that the said stop 9" will notbe engaged by the detent t, although the latter returns immediatelyunder the action of the spring to the proper position to engage the nextstop when it arrives at the detent in the rotation of the disk 9.

The tripping-rod p is guided in its longitudinal movement by a pin, 9",against which it is held by a spring, 19 which permits the said rod toyield laterally, so as to allow the shoulder 19 to pass the projection ion the detent-lever in the return movement of the rod caused by thespring p when the safe-door is opened.

As herein shown, the contactspring 7, together with the magnet andbattery, is supported on aportion of theinterior frame-work or finish inthe body of the safe, while the time-movement g is supported on thedoor, the portion 4 of the circuit extending from the said magnet to thesaid timemovement being flexible or jointed at the hinge of the door orother point to accommodate the movement of the latter, the circuit beingopen between the arm I) and spring 7 when the door is open and beingconnected at this point when the door is closed.

A circuit-closer controlled by the knobspindle of a look, as hereinshown, in such manner that the circuit is normally in one conditionwhile the said knob-spindle is at rest, and in another condition whenthe said knobspindle is being turned, may be employed for other purposesthan for controlling the circuit of a vibrating hammer, as hereinshown-such, for instance, as for con trolling a circuit leading todistant station, and governing the operation of signaling apparatus toindicate any tampering with the said circuit.

The hammer M is insulated from the armature-lever M to prevent thecompletion of a short circuit for the battery when the said hammer is incontact with the rod d.

I claim- 1. The combination, with a safe,- of a hammer, electro-magnetfor vibrating the same, and battery and circuit for said magnet,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with a safe, of a hammer, electro-magnet forvibrating it, and a battery and circuit for the said magnet andcircuit-controlling devices, governed by the movement of the sate-door,substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a safe, of a hammer, an electro-magnet foractuating it, atimemovement governing'the circuit of the said magnet,and a detent for the said time-movement, operated by the movement of thesafedoor, substantially as described.

4. The combination of the spindle of a lock with a hammer or vibratorand with means to actuate the same to vibrate and jar the spindle,substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the spindle of a lock, of a hammer or vibrator,an armature, and magnet to effect the movement of the hammer orvibrator, substantially as described.

6. The spindle of a lock, its frictionallyheld arm and contact-points incircuit with a magnet, combined with a magnet and vibrator provided witha hammer, whereby the ICC a safe or vault lock with acircuit-controlling device connected with the said spindle, by 15 whichthe condition of an electric circuit is changed while the said spindleis beingturned, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two sub- 20 scribing witnesses.

OSCAR GASSETT.

\Vitnesses:

Jos. P. LIVERMORE, \V; H. SIGSTON. v

